Florida Ranks 3rd in Population Growth

By MIKE SCHNEIDERAssociated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Florida ranks third in the nation for population growth.

New estimates released by the U.S. Census Thursday shows Florida grew by 235,000 residents. Florida trailed only Texas and California in sheer numeric growth.

That made Florida the ninth fastest-growing state from July 2011 to July 2012. North Dakota grew the fastest.

The Sunshine State grew by 1.23 percent and now has an estimated population of 19.3 million residents. Florida is still the nation's fourth largest state, but trails the third-largest state, New York, by only a quarter million residents.

Census estimates also show that the bulk of Florida's population increase since 2010 has come from migration, not the natural increase from births.

Of the new migrants, about half were domestic and half were international.

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